We are trying to compile a history of Campy's
gruppos, from the '30s to the present day. If you have any
information on when each line was introduced, and a
summary of its features (including advancements from
previous gruppos), please send it to us!

TRIVIA

For instance, brevette
(or Brev. or Brevettato) is
Italian for "patented." Check out your Campy
gear--especially older parts--and you're bound to find in there
somewhere (although sometimes they stamped "Patented"
in English). It seems almost everything on Campy's parts was
patentable in some way. How is their cable fixing bolt different
enough to be patented? Don't ask us!

While we're on the subject,
did you know that Nuovo Record was not
named in honor of Eddy Merckx's Hour Record (accomplished on a
Campagnolo-equipped bike)? Super Record, the
next upgrade to Campy's lineup, was for the most part Nuovo
Record, with a few changes:

A slightly longer cage on the rear derailleur, which also
came with titanium bolts (a rarity in those days)

Black anodizing on parts of the front derailleur
(otherwise the same as Nuovo Record)

Holes in the brake levers (despite the
"lightweight" appearance, almost identical in
weight to the Nuovo Record levers)

The large chainring lacked an internal stiffening ring

The old, 2-bolt seatpost (notoriously difficult to
adjust!) was replaced with a polished, one-bolt version

The pedals changed from chromed steel to black aluminum
cages; one model was available with titanium spindles
(which, being pure Ti, were unfortunately prone to
breakage).

Some Campagnolo parts found on bicycles can be dated
by codes or patent dates. As an example, the Nuovo Record rear
derailleur has a patent date that corresponds to its
manufacturing date. And the lock nut on the hub axle typically is
stamped with "CAM. 60" or some other number
corresponding to the last two digits of the year of manufacture.
Also, the crank arms can have a code consisting of a diamond
(1970's), circle (1980's), square (late non-fluted SR), etc. with
a number in the center possibly denoting the last digit of the
year of manufacture. Thanks to Chuck Schmidt of Velo Retro for
this info.

One of our readers (David
Walker walker@boulder.nist.gov)
sent the following most amazing trove of Campagnolo trivia.
Everything you always wanted to know about Nuovo and Super Record
(but didn't know to ask) . . .

(1) Type I was a hollow version of NR; bearing
races were pressed-on steel (like the Ti SR pedals). An
unfortunate incident involving Laurent Fignon, the 1982 Giro, and a bad fall while he was in the lead owing to a
broken Ti axle resulted in a redesign:

(2) Type II uses a solid axle with threaded nuts.
I've never heard of one of these failing, but the bad PR
had already doomed it.

(3) Both versions used CP (commercially pure)
titanium; about 1/2 the strength of 6/4--but that's what
was available!!
(4) Cups were aluminum with pressed-in steel races.

(d) SR Bottom brackets and pedals used a larger number
of smaller balls in the bearings; consequently, parts do NOT
interchange with NR.

(e) Original SR rear derailleur and seatpost were NR
copies with lighter weight hardware, black-anodized ends on
the derailleur, and flutes on the seatpost; later designs
were changed as described on your web page. You might add
that later SR derailleur replaced the front parallelogram
plate, which had been NR-style save for "Super
Record" lettering, to a simple silkscreened
"Campagnolo" script.

(f) Black aluminum pedals proceeded SR introduction by
several years and were sold alongside the chrome steel
models, so technically speaking they're NOT Super Record;
they were called "Record Superleggero," or just SL
pedals. SR pedals are essentially SL pedals with titanium
axles.

II. Trivia time:

(a) A very few SR rear derailleurs were delivered with
aluminum pivot bolts instead of titanium, for reasons which
are unknown.

(b) Campagnolo Catalog No. 17 (as well as period
Raleigh catalogs, at least) shows SR hubs with titanium
axles. Due to reliability issues, these were never put into
production. A few prototypes were produced and displayed at
trade shows; these would be a rare find for the die-hard
collector!

(c) Because of the reliability problems with the
titanium bottom bracket axles and pedal spindles, a
"reduced" Super Record gruppo was introduced with
NR bottom bracket and SL pedals. Most "full SR"
bikes in reality have this reduced SR gruppo. The easiest way
to tell is to look for the aluminum bottom bracket cups,
which are uniquely SR. Very rarely, a bike might have SR
pedals with a NR bottom bracket, but if it has the SR
titanium bottom bracket, it'll almost invariably have the SR
pedals. The Type II solid-axle bb is also easy to spot if you
remove the dust caps and look for the nuts.

(e) Late-style SR cranks have no flute on the arms,
but more importantly, Campy *finally* fixed the fatigue
cracking problem where the spider arms meet the crank arm by
adding more metal.

(f) While these late-style, non-fluted arms were more
reliable than the earlier cranks, they still suffered fatigue
failure due to cracking around the *stamped* Campy logo on
the arm (I have one to prove it).

(g) The final version of SR cranks did away with the
stamped Campy logo on the arms; instead, it was laser-etched.
These are identified by their flat black appearance with no
metal indentation. For the true purist who want to ride on
their Campy SR forever, these are the ones to look for.

(h) Everyone knows about the date code stamped on the
upper housing of NR and SR rear derailleurs, right? Well, did
you know that later SR models had a non-descript code, e.g.,
"11," stamped on them, and the final versions have
no stamp code at all?

(i) Speaking of date codes, did you know that the year
of manufacture is also stamped on the *inner* surface of NR
hub lock nuts?

(j) Did you know that the earliest versions of Record
side-pull calipers, from 1969, had plain arms with no
"Campagnolo" on them? These are also quite rare,
and a real collector's find.

Re whether SR bottom bracket cups contained more aluminum:
they are akin to the headsets in their composition, with steel
races. They also required a smaller bearing.

Did you know that Campagnolo is
Italian for "Of the country" (as in
"countryside")? Makes it harder to explain why Campy's
mountain gruppos never got very far . . .

Campagnolo's hometown in Italy is Vicenza,
known as the "City of Palladio" for its beautifully
preserved buildings. Learn more about this beautiful place at http://metro.turnpike.net/~mosaic/homeus.html
(We note, incidentally, that this otherwise fine web site
contains not a single mention of Campagnolo!)

The Cobalto brakeset is
basically a Nuovo/Super Record model, but is distinguished by the
blue (cobalt) "jewel" at the pivot point of the
calipers. One of our readers also pointed out the following to
us:

The "Campagnolo" script on the brake calipers
is blue, rather than simply engraved.

The rubber rings on the brake adjusters were white
(rather than black for NR or SR).

Some of the wheel guides on the brake blocks were white,
rather than black.

The Cobalto brakes were also the first Campy brakeset to
offer aero cable routing. The lever bodies allowed the
cable to run in the traditional manner or under the
handlebar tape. Brake hoods for those levers are peculiar
to the Cobalto gruppo and cannot be used on other brakes.

Over time, the blue center-bolt jewel on the Cobalto
brakes can fall out. I'm told that you can no longer get
replacements. One of my calipers had this very problem.
The other day I was in a sewing store with my wife and
noticed a pair of buttons with a blue center stone. When
I got home I pried the center stone out, filed the edges
slightly and glued it into the end of the brake. It's not
an original but it looks almost better than new. My wife,
of course, thinks I'm nuts.

Trivia: Your classic Campagnolo short rear
drop out . . . we all have them on our 1980's Italian steel. Have
you ever wondered about the 2 small M3x0,5 threaded hole on the
right dropout? Do you know of the obscure contraption which did
attach here? It was a crescent shaped chain hanger. For pro
racers this innovation allowed quick rear wheel changes by
allowing the rider to derail the chain off the 5th cog on to the
hanger by way of a shifting lever that slipped past 5th position
when a chromed spring clip was depressed. After a successful
change a mechanic would push the rider on his way and a shift
back to the 5th position placed the chain in a "chase back
to the pack" 5th gear. Follow? Pretty neat eh? Editor'
note: This feature was called the "Porte catena;"
there's a complete parts listing and installation instructions in
the Campy catalog compilation from Velo Retro.
Submitted by The
Campagnolo Kid

Here are some little details about Campy.
I know these to be true because I was there starting in 1969. The
early 70's saw a transition between 5 & 6 speeds, and
changing wheels could hazardous in a race if you ran a six and
your wheel change was a five. Hence, the shifter with the funny
little clip blocked the chain from jamming into your frame if you
had such a wheel change. Spacing for five speeds was 120mm, six
speeds at first were 124mm. Six speeds started to shift design
away from the spokes and come closer to the chain/seatstays,
especially suntour. So six speed spacing was standardized at
126mm. Also, some bozo engineers at the "big" factories
were not indenting, filing, whatever, their stays to accomodate
the new six speeds. The 2mm extra saved them in production time. One difference between old and new
Campy brakes was the quick release lever. Old Nouvo and
SuperRecord had a flat lever, later production had a finger
"bulge". Old derailleurs used alloy pins with brass
bushings, later models used steel pins.
Submitted by Charles at Wright Bros.
Cycle Works in Seattle wbros@speakeasy.org

How are the new Moskva
rims different from Campy's Omega Aero (which
they closely resemble?) Our tech expert Tim Laflin has the answer:
"The extrusion is different on the new Moskvas. They
specifically beefed up the interior at the spoke nipple perch and
changed the way they cut the holes to leave more material. I can
tell the difference immediately when building. The old Omegas
used to bulge at the nipple points under tension. These guys stay
fixed. It should be a real strong rim. I use this as the general
all purpose rim for everything. I just love the cosmetics of it.
The ti finish is cool looking more than the polished or hard anno."

Looking for intimate details about your Ergo
levers? You'll find the complete text and description of
the levers that Campy submitted to the U.S. Patent Office
at http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/details?patent_number=5479776
Did you know that Ergopower was invented by a Mr. Giuseppe
Dal PrÓ, in Padova, Italy? Giuseppi, we salute you!
(Note: The patent shows Antonio Romano as the inventor of
Ergopower. One of our readers pointed out--based on his inside
knowledge--that Giuseppi was actually the inventor.) Click here to view
our online version of the Ergopower
Instructions and the Ergopower Tech Manual.

We're not experts or mechanics, but here are a few tips
we can pass along. If you have your own Tech Tip, send it to us!

We recommend the use of Gore-Tex
shift cables for Ergo systems. They work great, and their
customer support is fantastic. (We had trouble installing their
cables, and they sent a whole new set!)

We like White Lightning lube for our
chain and pedal cleats. It's the first lube we've ever used where
we actually went through a whole bottle! Great stuff.

If you have a Super Record crankset, you'll notice
that the "web" (the point at which the right-hand crank
arm meets the spider) is very thin. An old mechanic's trick is to
get a fine, round file and smooth out that sharp edge, which
otherwise had a tendency to concentrate stresses and crack.

Tech tip: Front shifting on flat-caged Campy
derailleurs (meaning all but the latest models with
"profiled" cage plates) can be improved by taking a
pair of needle nose pliers or a small crescent wrench and carefully
bending the leading edges of the both plates inwards a little to
facilitate chain throwing, as well as bowing out the center
section of the outer plate behind the cage attachment point to
provide more chain clearance in the small rear cog. (Thanks to
David Walker for this tip!)

If you can get your hands on a pair of Campy's
original Super Record titanium-spindled pedals, be careful! Those
pedals were produced with axles of pure titanium, which is not
nearly as strong as the 6/4 alloy now used to produce Ti
fasteners and bike parts.

If you can get your hands on a pair of Sun
Tour jockey pulleys, put them on your Campy derailleur.
They turn on ball bearings, and they last, and last, and last.
We've had the same pair on our bike for some 30,000 miles, and
they show no signs of wear.

After having built or converted about 5 bikes over to 9 speed,
I feel comfortable making a few comments or corrections to your
Campagnolo Only site- the coolest place on the web.

The parallelogram on the rear derailleur has not changed-
as best as I can measure. The only difference is the
width of the upper jockey pulley and that the top part of
the inside jockey wheel cage is indented for additional
spoke clearance. Therefore, if my measurements are
correct, you could use a 9V rear mech. with an 8V gruppo
albeit with a 9V chain- not that incompatible afterall.

You probably could convert an 8V shifter to 9V by only
changing the notched ring; the shifter appears identical
to last years model and prior to the advent of 9V that
part was interchangeable from the inception of ergopower.
Get the excellent ergopower tech manual before starting.

On the rear hub, the new cassette body does fit on the
old hubs, but: to gain the same spacing and adequate
chain clearance, you must 1) add a 1mm spacer to the
cassette side 2) to get back to 130mm O/L, then remove
the spacer from the non cassette side and re-dish the
wheel.

The conversion is worth the trouble- especially if you
have components several years old- for the weight
savings. It works beautifully. You should reconsider your
Boo Boo column; once again Campagnolo has not
disappointed.

Our tech expertTim Laflin informs us
that Campy is warning wheelbuilders not to use
radial spoke lacing with 9-speed hubs. They say it will void the
warranty.

I have a '94 Chorus Ergo group which works today
exactly the same as it did the day I got it. I am a Cat 2 racer
and put 7,000 to 10,000 miles a year on my bike. The front
derailer is a clamp-on style, with small alloy roll pins used in
the "hinge" mechanism. These alloy roll pins snap at
the least amount of stress. No problem - go to a hardware store
and buy some 3 cent steel pins of a similar diameter and length.
The weight difference is absolutely negligible ( I bet it's way
under a gram ), and it lasts forever. I'd like a Shitmano freak
to try to fix a Shitmano part with something this easy.

Also, being a racer, I fall down once in a while. The front of
my Ergo levers are a bit scratched. Other racers with brand
"S" components usually have the shifting mechanism
wiped out by a good crash. (Thanks to john_larson@compuware.com)

CONTRIBUTE!

Want to add your
own tips or trivia here? Send it to us! If it's good, we'll add
it, and we'll credit you for the item!